Developing Ecosocial Literacy: Cultivating the Skills and Mindsets of Sustainability
Dates: Monday January 29 and Tuesday January 30, 2024
Time: 8:30am–4:30pm
Location: Hanahau'oli School Professional Development Center, located at 1922 Makiki Street, Honolulu HI 96822
Cost: $350 for the 2-day workshop
Scholarships and neighbor island travel stipends are available! Please inquire here.
Join Chris Zorn, local artist, musician, and SEL teacher, at a 2-day workshop that aims to support educators in creating conditions for all life to flourish, thrive and persist in balance and harmony for the long haul. Discover your agency to bring forth a more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.
The recent devastation on Maui brings into sharp relief the challenges we’re facing in the 21st century. Long-term issues of environmental and social injustice, the increasing consequences of climate change and the importance of working together creatively and effectively across differences can no longer be ignored. Student learners need mentors and guides who can support their transformative journey to ecosocial literacy and empower their co-creative capacity for positive change.
Ecosocial literacy, in its simplest terms, might be thought of as the awareness, understanding and skills necessary to gracefully live in harmony and balance with one another and our non-human neighbors and kin, in perpetuity. Part of that wisdom includes a dynamic social awareness. How do we get along well with one another and joyfully enrich one another’s lives? Part of that wisdom is a deep, abiding ecological perspective. How do we fit harmoniously into the vast, intricate web of life from which we evolved and contribute to the continued flourishing and beauty of all life? The two are inextricably connected.
This workshop will introduce participants to ecosocial literacy and explore the frameworks, mindsets, values and practices to help student learners of all ages develop the awareness and skills necessary to contribute to a more equitable, just and sustainable 21st century. We’ll discover our own agency as educators and learn ways we can contribute to this transformation regardless of our particular educational environment.
Each day is experiential, interactive and hands-on. We will learn through our own participation, which will include exercises, group activities, personal reflections and generative dialogue with others.
Developing ecosocial literacy is a comprehensive topic and we will cover a lot of ground. Upon registration, participants will receive a workbook to help facilitate participation in the workshop along with additional information, references and practices to explore after the workshop. To explore some of the foundations of ecosocial literacy in advance of registering for the workshop, visit Chris Zorn's website here, where you'll find a number of essays and activities that will be included in the workbook.
Wear comfortable clothing (for simple movement), and bring your journal and favorite writing tools for self-reflection and taking creative notes. A variety of other creative supplies, as well as a light breakfast and lunch will be provided.
About the Facilitator:
Chris Zorn is an artist, musician and educator, mentored in the practices and mindsets of contemplative and deep ecological education. For the past three decades, he has applied the principles and practices of ecosocial literacy to deepen the learning experience for students of all ages from kindergarteners to seniors.
In response to the multiple growing crises of planetary and human health and well-being, he developed a year-long transdisciplinary leadership course, Transforming Ecosocial Leadership, which offers older students (grades 10 and up) the opportunity to immerse themselves in the mindsets and daily practices of ecosocial literacy. He applies the same underlying principles and practices in his work with younger students.
He holds a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has taught at CU Boulder, Naropa University, a number of community colleges, private and public schools, the Honolulu Museum of Art School and many other locations. For the past 20 years he has taught music, art, social and emotional learning, and leadership at the University Laboratory School to students of every grade level.
Learn more about Chris and his work at www.czorn.net.